The Second Step
by Laraqua
Summary: When Shane busts open the barn doors, they take out the other walkers only to find Sophia amongst them - before she's kidnapped. A tale about a different take on the walkers, what made them, and what the next intended 'step' could've been. Daryl's POV.
1. Chapter 1

This occurs during the barn episode when the walkers fall over.

* * *

The walkers pouring out of the barn fell one by one to the rattle of gunfire as Daryl, Andrea, T-Dog, Shane, and Glen stepped up toward them. Daryl knew it was a good thing. There were enough walkers in there to kill all of them if they didn't know they was coming. How dumb could those people be? Still, he knew there'd be trouble in a moment when Hershel pulled himself together.

The last walker fell and Daryl lowered his gun. He didn't holster it. There was bound to be more. One straggler or another, small or more broken than the others. They couldn't turn their back on that barn until they'd searched it. Someone else shuffled to the barn doors and he smirked to himself. Just as he'd figured.

The silhouette was small, child-sized, though he couldn't make out its figures in the gloom.

His mouth went dry.

Just a kid. Just some random kid. Couldn't be Sophia. That's just his nerves talking. They woulda said something if they'd stuck Sophia in the barn. It wasn't her.

She shuffled out into the light and it was Sophia and his heart smashed itself against his ribs. Sophia raised a hand over her eyes, like the light hurt her, confused her, but then she took another few halting steps forward, and her eyes were a dead girl's eyes. Faded blue. And there was dried blood on her neck from some bad bite but she looked mostly just like a faded, dirt-smeared Sophia. Carol wailed then and she ran forward and he grabbed her, dropping his shotgun, falling to the ground with her as she dropped, keeping her from running to the little girl.

She'd been in the barn.

It'd been hopeless from the start.

They must've corralled her and grabbed her before any of them came here. That must've been a day or two after she'd gone missing. Maybe hours after it. They'd grabbed her and taken her and put her in the barn and forgotten about her while they'd gone looking.

Damn, why'd he make it his problem?

He should've known she was dead.

She was staggering forward another few paces and everyone was still and Coral was rocking and crying in his arms, hands by her mouth. She'd been right. There'd been no point looking.

"Oh no, Sophia," cried Carol, voice broken.

Sophia took a few more steps, then something whipped out of the barn and slid around her, jerking her arms to her side. A lasso? Then another jerk, and she was dragged back off her feet, shoes sliding heel-edge against the dirt and arms bumping against the edges of the barn doors. Then she was gone, back in the barn, back in the dark.

"The hell?" muttered Daryl.

"What was that?" demanded Shane, all big and angry again with his chest puffed out like someone had insulted him. It was like Merle. Once he had a target there was no shock and no mercy. Shane looked around at all the farm people. "There another one of you in there?"

The old man didn't answer.

The others just looked shocked.

Shane strode toward the barn doors but Rick hurried up and blocked his way with an arm. "Who the hell is in there?" demanded Shane, stepping back from his arm and then trying to move around it.

"We need to think, okay?" Rick asked. "Gimme a moment to think!"

In that moment of silence, Daryl thought he heard fabric rustling from inside the barn, but he couldn't be sure.

Carol opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but all that came out was a pained 'ahh' that broke into hissed air. She sounded like the pain was physical. It sure felt physical to Daryl. Like someone'd kicked him in the chest. Damnit, it wasn't his fault and it wasn't his problem. Still he held on to her, to keep her from doing anything stupid, and maybe to keep himself from doing anything stupid.

"You need to think?" demanded Shane, almost laughing. "Now?" He swept Rick's arm aside and ran over to the barn doors, wrenching them open. "Get the hell out here, whoever the hell you are!"

The barn was empty, eerily silent. Nothing but feathers and dead chickens and a whole lot of footprints. Daryl's gaze went up to the hay loft and he let Carol go, let her cry to herself uselessly, and picked up his shotgun. He headed around the side of the barn and saw the woman running, something bundled up in her arms. She ran fast, too. Not superhuman fast. Nothing like that. It was an all-out sprint that foot racers would've been proud of, even with Sophia bundled up in her arms.

The others came round the barn, too. At least, most of them.

"Why'd she grab Sophia?" asked Glenn.

"She's gonna get herself bit," said Dale.

Andrea just shook her head. "Serves her right. We should have been able to bury our own."

Rick strode forward. "We still can."

Now it was Shane's turn to grab at him. "Let her go. We nearly lost enough people chasing ghosts as it is."

"But why?" asked Glenn. "Why do that?"

"Prob'ly thought we were gonna shoot some little girl," said Dale. "She must've hidden up in the hay loft when we shot the others."

Daryl watched her go, itching to chase after her. She was faster. He could tell. But he could track her down wherever he went. But Shane was right. There was no point. Sophia was dead anyway and that woman would've been bit by now or would be soon. She wasn't going to take precautions if she thought Sophia were still alive.

Damn that hurt.

Daryl gritted his teeth together. Best not to think about it too deeply. He started toward her. "I'll track her. See which way she went."

"What?" demanded Shane. "You wanna run that by me again? Tell me how it'd help."

"We need to bury our own," said Andrea, nodding, striding forward to join him. "Besides, if that woman gets bit then she'll turn and be a threat. We can't let loose walkers be on the property. Even ... Sophia."

Rick nodded. "You're right. Let's go."

Even Shane nodded at that. "All right."

"No," said Dale. "You two are gonna have to stay behind to help clean up that mess Shane made. Even if what he did was right, it was a horrible way to go about it and there's a chance we'll be kicked off the farm or worse. You've gotta find a way to make it right to their family. Let Daryl and Andrea deal with the woman and, well, and Sophia."

"No, I have a responsibility to Sophia," said Rick.

Daryl ignored them and set off. By the time they'd sorted it out amongst themselves, the woman and the walker would be long gone. Andrea followed.

"What about your responsibility for your family?" demanded Shane. "And the rest of us."

Rick didn't follow them. Maybe he'd figured out the others were right.

Andrea didn't talk as she followed after him. That was good. She understood how things should be. The woman and the walker'd disappeared into the forest but Daryl didn't hurry. Either the woman'd taken precautions or she hadn't and would be found with her throat ripped out lumbering towards them. One way or the other, her fate had been taken out of his hands, just like Sophia's had done. He followed the tracks, easy enough since she'd been running, and found that they only slowed once she'd reached the forest. That girl had some stamina. Then they slowed to a hustle. "No sign she's been injured," said Daryl, his hands on his shotgun as he walked along. "She must've hooded her with something thick or ball gagged her or something."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Andrea, with that tight smile she always wore now when she was upset. "She'd have to know she was a walker then. Why kidnap a walker?"

Daryl didn't answer, because he didn't have anything worth saying, and the two of them followed the tracks which slowed down considerably and started having the tell tale signs of exhausted hurrying. A slid foot here, a skid over there, broken branches from where she'd stumbled against the trees. Sophia was probably struggling and in the uneven ground, that'd make her hard to carry.

No, don't think of her as Sophia. Think of her as a walker.

He followed them some more until they reached a creek, checked both sides of the bank and then stopped. "Can't find any tracks. She must've went up or down the creek to get us off her scent. If we follow the banks, we'll find where she came out."

"Didn't help us last time," said Andrea, her callous tone at odds with the pained look in her eye.

Daryl nodded. "Take us awhile to find her if she don't want to be found. She came straight down here. Must know the lay out of the local land at least that well. Means she can probably hide from us okay."

"And she's far enough from the farm that we don't need to worry about her," said Andrea. "Damnit! What kinda person does this? We should be able to bury our dead! We have to go forward."

Daryl scowled at the water. He'd already decided this wasn't his problem, hadn't he? "She's dead." He turned and headed back for the farm.

* * *

Okay, well, hope you enjoyed it so far. More chapters to come. The next one will skip forward to the end of Season 2, the morning after. I haven't seen any of Season 3, though, so it'll diverge from there.


	2. Chapter 2

This is set just after the end of Season 2 after they're running low on fuel. As I don't know about Season 3, I'm not going to include anything on Michonne. The assumption is that Michonne dropped Andrea off and melted off into the forest because the others would kill her walkers. I'll pick her up in the alternate timeline once I've seen some of Season 3.

* * *

Daryl leaned up against the side of the car, carving new arrows, and checking back down the road occasionally for walkers, while Rick spoke into his radio head-set in case a man Daryl had never met heard him. It seemed real dumb to do that what with that group out looking for them, but Rick had swore that he wouldn't let slip any vital information.

"Can't talk right now, buddy," said Rick. "Can't say anything much at all. Just that we know now that you can't wait anywhere. Nowhere's safe. If you get this, I hope you've found somewhere better than we had and that you've been luckier." Then he put the head-set down.

"Have you tried the other channels?" asked Andrea.

"No need," said Rick, that same hard look in his eye since last night and all that had happened then. The man needed sleep, but Daryl wasn't going to be the one to tell him. "We figured out the right channel."

"It's been awhile. He might've forgot. Besides, we might hear something." Andrea shrugged. "Worth a shot."

Rick nodded, glancing over at Lori and Carl who still huddled away from him, then looked down at the radio. "Might as well." He started searching the frequencies and music started playing lightly in the background.

"Is that N-Sync?" asked Andrea, shaking her head. "Just my luck. Only radio station still playing and it's N-Sync."

"They must have it on automatic," said Maggie, walking over. "A lot of the times on busy nights they'll just put on a certain CD. Their generator mustn't have run out."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Beth, crossing her arms over her chest. "They were big country and western fans and loathed pop music. Their son was big into heavy metal so it's not him." She shrugged when Hershel looked at her. "I went there on a school trip once. It's not that far out and the place is a nice stone building with little windows and the radio station attached to the house." She frowned. "Besides, we searched all the channels and nothing was airing just a few weeks ago."

Daryl sighed. He couldn't believe they were so keen on talking about some dumb ass radio station. He didn't want to meet the survivors who'd take over a radio station just to play N-Sync.

"Well, if there are survivors there then we should avoid them," said Rick. "We've had enough trouble with other survivors so far and if they're no one you know, then we might as well stay on."

"They might have gas for their generator to keep the radio working," added Glenn.

"They're not going to hand it over, and it may not be the right kind for our cars," said Hershel. "Best we not stumble into trouble, right Rick?"

Everyone looked to Rick, who nodded, and reached over to switch off the radio.

"No, please," said Carol.

Daryl watched her. He didn't take her to be a fan of N-Sync.

"That was my daughter's favourite song," said Carol apologetically.

Daryl gritted his teeth together. There was nothing worse than memories of Sophia and he could kinda think of her dancing about to this stupidly cheery song. Then the imagining turned to her as a walker, her body moving and twitching, eyes so damn pale blue. He scowled at the road.

The song ended and relief washed over him. Now they could turn that damn radio off. Then a voice came over the radio that turned his blood to ice.

It was Sophia. "Umm, hi. I don't know if you're out there but I ... I'm fine."

Everyone crowded the radio, Daryl rushing up close despite himself. Carol gasped, clapping a hand over her mouth. No one spoke.

Sophia continued, "I'm safe. I'm okay. I know what you ... I know what you thought you saw and it ... I can't explain it. Just... Um, hi Carl! Mom. It's okay. Just don't ... don't come for me, okay? It's better if... I miss you, mom." A sniffle. "This is a, uh, a...?"

"Recorded message," whispered a woman's voice in the background.

"Yeah, that. A recorded message. So I'm not here anymore. It's okay, though. I'm sorry. I love you, mom. I hope you get this but I don't ... we have to go so I can't leave you any other message. I ... I tried to keep the sun on my shoulder but there was another one and he grabbed me and I ... I tripped and that got me away ... but not fast enough. I'm sorry, Rick. I tried. Okay, well, here's some more songs from Infected Radio. I hope you like Glee!"

Some terrible song or other came onto the radio as her voice stopped.

"She's alive?" cried Carol, staring at the radio as though it were her daughter herself.

"She's alive," whispered Carl, awed.

Lori just hugged him close to her, as if hearing Sophia's voice just reminded her of what she could've lost.

"That's impossible," said Maggie, glaring over at Glenn and then Rick. "You said it was impossible. You said there was no cure!"

Glenn raised his hands in defence. "They're dead! You saw 'em."

"There wasn't a cure," said Rick, staring around at them in shock. "The CDC said it themselves. They didn't even know what this it but they knew they're dead. They're_ dead_ dead."

"You mean to tell me that my family could've survived if you didn't plug holes in them?" asked Hershel, though he sounded more tired than angry.

"Well, _she's_ not dead," said Andrea. "No way that could've been made before Sophia got bit. How would she know where she'd get bit?"

Daryl headed for his motorcycle, checked his bolts were loaded into the rack of his crossbow, and shouldered it.

"Where are you going?" demanded Rick.

"Talkin' ain't gonna bring us answers," said Daryl. It seemed blindingly clear to him the only thing that would.

"We stay together!" snapped Rick, pointing at the asphalt. "If we go, we go together. Where is it?"

"About three miles up the road or so," said Beth. "There's a sign for a dirt track that winds over to it on the left."

"Sophia's alive," murmured Carol, turning her big, frightened eyes over to Daryl. That made his heart hurt worse so he only grunted as he threw a leg over his motorcycle.

"You start that engine and you'll bring walkers for miles," said Andrea. "They're not that far off from here."

"Then we walk," growled Daryl. "But if you're coming, keep up."

Maggie nodded and hurried up beside him. "I'm coming."

"We're all going," said Rick firmly. "Come on, but keep your weapons ready. We've got no idea what's going on here. It might not be Sophia. Might just be someone who sounds like her. We've got to be prepared for that and we got to be prepared for that place being occupied."

Daryl just took up the lead. If this was someone's idea of a sick joke, if someone had made Sophia say that stuff and then got her bit, then he was going to do more than plug holes in them. If it wasn't ... if Sophia was alive? Well, he didn't really know what he'd do then.


	3. Chapter 3

The radio shack sat high on a hill of cleared farmland with a winding dirt path that headed up there. It was a thick bluestone cottage with windows and doors boarded up on the outside on the ground floor. It was one-storey, if you didn't count the attic, with a taller rounded building with a huge antennae sticking out one side that was all stone and whose door was also nailed over with boards. WALKING DEAD INSIDE was painted on several of the boards in white paint. A wooden sloping roof off one side protected logs from the rain and there was the edge of a motorcycle he could see behind it.

"Anyone up there could pick us off from awhile away with a good rifle," said Hershel as they approached.

"Then we won't all go up to it," said Rick. "Daryl, Andrea, you're with me. The rest of you stay at this distance."

"I want to go save Sophia," said Carl stubbornly.

"You have to stay with us," said Lori, hugging him to her.

"I should go," said Beth. "I knew the radio operators. They might still be there. They might have let pop play just to please So ... the little girl."

Hershel's lips thinned at that but he didn't say anything but, "Good luck," with a quick clasp on her shoulder.

Daryl didn't wait to hear more arguments. He just headed over to the front gate that was partially opened and looked down at the motorcycle tracks that headed up the path. They were recent. He started up the path, followed by Rick and the two women, though he kept his eyes mostly on the house.

There was an attic window that wasn't boarded up, though, and it stood on a vertical bit of wall above where most of the rooftop sloped away with red tiles. The guttering had been pulled away on that side, but there was no ladder nor things underneath it and it would've been a high seven foot jump to grab the eaves. What worried him were the cross-shaped holes someone had dug out of the wooden walls up in the attic, that would make for good firing lines.

There looked to be a few trenches dug here and there, though they were too shallow to hold walkers, so he wasn't sure what their purpose was. A few of them had camouflage nets over them, though, and that made his skin prickle.

"No one draw," murmured Rick. "We're not going to win a shoot out."

Daryl nodded, glad that Shane was dead because there'd be a chance he'd draw. When they were mostly to the house, Daryl started breathing a little easier. Maybe the place was just crawling with walkers – he tried not to think of Sophia as one – or maybe no one was on look out. Or maybe the survivors weren't planning on killing them. Either way, if they hadn't been shot by now it was a good sign.

"Those signs might just be a trick," whispered Andrea. "They'd discourage a lot of people from looting and if they did break in, they wouldn't be expecting an armed response. Maybe we should do the same wherever we end up."

"Let's just get out of here first," whispered Beth.

There were footprints heading back and forth from where the motorcycle was parked that didn't go up to the doors but instead stopped by someplace where something soft had brushed the soil. Rope? A rope ladder, maybe? The verandah was made of wood and looked like it'd creak. In fact, a lot of dead, dried leaves had blown across it – or been placed – and they'd snap as well. Besides, the windows were bricked up from the inside.

Daryl pointed up at the sloping roof. That was their best way in. He went over to Rick and leaned in close to whisper, "I'm a better climber than you."

Rick narrowed his eyes at the roof, then nodded and laced his fingers together to give Daryl a boost. Daryl gripped the side of the roof, testing it, but it felt secure. It'd sure been made of study stuff, and he hauled himself up, slowly swinging his leg up and over it. It made his old crossbow bolt wound ache and that reminded him of Sophia.

Don't get your hopes up, he told himself, as he slowly eased himself forward along the tiles.

He could hear someone moving inside.

His heart sped up. It sounded like a child. Oh god, did it sounded like Sophia.

He crept forward some more and peered in through the gap in the shutters. There was no window glass beyond it, though he glimpsed a rather nasty looking silenced sniper rifle sitting on a bedside cabinet only half a foot away from the window. He swallowed thickly, glad that there'd been no look out, and hooked his fingers into the gaps in the shutters, settling his crossbow across his chest yet still strapped over his arm, ready to grab it if he had to.

Then he pulled open the shutters like he was ripping open a bandaid.

It was Sophia.

Pale blue, dead eyes regarded him, though she was cleaned up and looked almost healthy but for those eyes. She stared at him, unblinking for a moment, then took a halting step forward, just as she had that day at the barn. He grabbed at the crossbow and she darted away, faster than he'd seen her move before, though not supernaturally fast. Just real quick.

Then there was movement from his left and a figure bashed into him, hands slamming into his chest, and he figured that this was it. There'd be teeth soon and pain and not much else. But then he was falling backwards, overbalancing, and he slammed against his tiles, his head cracking against them, and everything went dark for a moment, then he was sliding down and he realised that there was compacted dirt beneath him and he was going to land on his head.

Then someone had him by the boot and he looked up to see a woman with dead brown eyes regarding him, lips slack and slightly parted, and he knew she'd haul him in or bite down on his leg, but then he realised that she was making eye contact, she was looking at his eyes, and that wasn't something the walkers did.

"Daryl!" shouted Andrea, down below.

He glanced down and saw them spreading out, moving back so they could see him and her, and then they drew their guns.

She let his foot go and ducked. That wasn't what walkers did.

His momentum checked by her original grab, he gingerly started to get up.

Then she was back up and she had the sniper rifle in her hands, arms braced like she knew how it could kick, and she'd ducked behind the wall. "Get off my property!" She had an Alabama accent.

She fired a warning shot. It'd been quietened by the silencer but it was still loud enough to make his blood curdle.

Daryl glanced down and saw the others scamper for cover beneath the verandah and realised that he was still standing there on the tiles. Of course, if she were going to shoot him, she'd have done it already, and cold-blooded murderers don't grab your leg and keep you from falling when you've just attacked them. So he took a risk. He took off his crossbow, slow so she could see him, though faster than he probably should have because he was angry that she'd had Sophia all this time, and maybe a cure, and hadn't told them. He tossed the crossbow down to the ground.

"Daryl, you all right?" called Rick.

"Yeah, I'm all right." Daryl eyed the woman with her black curly hair cut short past her ears and her dead, brown eyes.

She looked pretty healthy too aside from the eyes and the fact he could make out the edges of fangs top and bottom as she gritted her teeth and looked at him.

"You a vampire?" asked Daryl.

Her eyes widened and she chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, I'm a vampire, so if you step a foot closer I'm gonna drain the blood from your bones." Her talk revealed more of her teeth and he saw they didn't look dainty like vampire fangs. They looked more like a big cat's. Like someone whose teeth could tear your meat off. Besides, her hands had been sunlit when she'd grabbed his leg.

"We don't want any trouble," said Rick.

"Yeah, I hear you," she said. "That's why I ain't shot you yet so you all play nice and head back down to the road and I won't trouble you with a bullet."

"How about we just introduce ourselves?" Rick asked, stepping back into view, the gun in his hand.

"I know all about you, Rick," she snapped. "I know how you were gonna string up some kid you tortured based on no evidence."

"If you knew that, you know we didn't shoot him," said Rick. "You with his group?"

"Don't have to be to think what you almost did was wrong."

"How'd you know what we almost did?" asked Daryl.

"I listen and I learn," she said.

"We're hear about the message from Sophia," said Rick. "We just want to know if she's all right. Can we just see her? Check that she's okay?"

There was movement behind the woman and then Sophia peeked around her shyly. "Please don't hurt them," said Sophia, tugging on the bottom of the woman's shirt.

"That Sophia?" asked Rick, shifting weight from foot to foot.

Daryl just stood there, content to let Rick talk. If he angered her, maybe the woman would point her gun at him and away from Daryl and that'd give Daryl a chance to grab the gun. Besides, he didn't want to scare Sophia away. She was alive. He'd found her. But how could she be alive?

"Nope, just a girl who looks like her," said the woman. "I don't want any trouble but you're the lynching kind. That boy weren't a good boy but you couldn't know that but you were going to kill him anyway. Hell, with a few nice words and a safe place, he might've turned over a new leaf. People turn all kinds of ways these days."

"We're just here for the girl," said Rick.

"Forget about it, no kid-killing group's a place for children."

"We didn't kill him," said Andrea. "We let him go."

"You all agreed to kill him, 'cept for the old man," said the woman. "I'd snuck by when you were talking about it and I waited by the barn to see if you'd do it and the only reason you didn't was because your boy walked in and shamed you."

"You're right," said Rick, nodding. "He shamed me and I realised I was wrong to do what I was gonna do. We were just scared, that's all. Scared and trying to protect our own."

"Well, there ain't any of your own in here," said the woman.

"I'm looking at Sophia right now," said Daryl.

The woman snapped her glare back at him.

"You were really going to kill a kid?" asked Sophia.

That made Daryl feel guilty and damnit he shouldn't have to feel guilty. "He'd shot at us first and he weren't no kid."

"That's Sophia, all right," said Rick. "And we're not going to leave without her."

"Then you're not going to leave," said the woman. "I got one of your own right here in my sights and unlike you's I got evidence that you're bad people. You're the killing kind and I gotta protect my own."

"She's not yours," said Rick. "Her mother's waitin' for her and she's been real messed up since you stole her daughter from her. We all thought she was a walker."

"You wearing contacts?" asked Daryl. "Cause somethin's wrong with your eyes."

The way she looked at him made him realise that his guess about contacts was wrong.

"So you have a cure," said Daryl.

"Get off my property," she said breathlessly, reaching to draw the shutters closed.

The conversation was over. The toing and froing was pointless. He should've known that from the start. There was only one thing left to do. Daryl charged, hoping he hadn't misjudged her.


	4. Chapter 4

Daryl slammed into the side of the sniper rifle, grabbing hold of it and wrenching it out of her hands. For a moment, her grip on it was like a vice, but then she released it and he threw it aside. Sophia was crying out for them to stop it, and Daryl was fine to make a truce now that there was no gun pointed at him, but the woman had other ideas.

She pulled a knife so he rammed her against the wall. She may be strong but he was bigger and heavier and that mattered in such close quarters. She made to knee him in the groin but he saw that coming a mile away and moved his thigh to block it, so she slammed him in the nose hard enough to make him blink back tears, but not hard enough to break anything. He grabbed her knife hand, but didn't think she had two.

The second knife was up against his throat in moments and she grinned at him through bared teeth that could kill, chest heaving as they held each other in an embrace more intimate than sex. One where a single motion could kill.

"How about I let go and get off your property?" asked Daryl, releasing her other knife hand.

There were footsteps on the verandah roof and he heard Rick call out, "You okay?"

"We're playing nice," said the woman, dropping the second knife and pulling out her handgun from the back of her pants and pointing it at Rick.

"Don't hurt him," said Sophia angrily. "And stop fighting."

"How many weapons you got, woman?" asked Daryl.

"Enough," she said, breathing so close he could smell garlic. At least the warm breath said she was alive and the smell was more pleasant than the dead, though not by a whole lot. She had good aim, too, because she was looking at Daryl and not at Rick but the gun was pointing in roughly the right direction despite probably only being able to see him out of the corner of her eye.

"Look, you're obviously a good person," said Rick, holding his pistol between thumb and forefinger. "You kept Daryl from falling, you didn't shoot him when he came through the window, and you haven't killed him now. I appreciate that. I do. So how about I give you my gun and we can talk this out."

"Yeah, you give me your gun," she said.

Rick slowly lowered it to the ground and kicked it over.

Sophia snatched it up, ran out to the door, and threw it out. "There. Now no one can have it." Then she ran over toward Rick, picked up the sniper rifle, and shoved it through the attic door. "No more shooting!"

"There's not going to be anymore shooting," said Rick, holding his hands out in front of him. "How about you let Daryl back away from that knife, yeah? You've got a gun. We don't. I'm sure he'll give you that crossbow if you let him."

Daryl said nothing, simply looked at her through slitted lids, head tilted back. He didn't much want his adam apple bobbing into her knife.

"You'll put it on the ground right?" asked Rick.

"Mm hmm," said Daryl, to keep his neck from moving too much. He could already feel the bite of the knife. It was sharp.

Damn her eyes were even creepier at this range, especially as she scrutinised him. Deader eyes weren't meant to do that.

"You'll put down your crossbow, won't you?" asked Sophia, reaching up and taking hold of the strap in one hand.

The woman eased off with the knife a bit.

"When did you get so cocky?" asked Daryl, smiling slightly, though his eyes didn't leave the woman's.

"Someone's got to be the grown up around here," said Sophia.

The woman backed off a few steps and moved the gun toward him. Daryl fought back the urge to knock the gun out of her hands while he had the chance, but there was still that knife to worry about and, besides, Rick was the leader. They'd do it his way. So instead of fighting, he unslung his crossbow and cautiously lowered it to the floor.

Sophia kicked it away and then looked up at the woman expectantly. "Katie..."

"What?" The woman frowned briefly down at her, then returned her look to the two men, licking her lips nervously as she shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"You're pointing a gun at my friends," said Sophia levelly. "And you're scaring me. I want to see my mother but I don't want to lose you either. And I don't want anybody to get hurt."

Daryl had to wipe his face with the back of his hand to get rid of the smile. Here they all were, being talked down to by a kid.

"She's right," said Rick. "Nobody needs to get hurt. I know we ain't done much to gain your trust and you're scared. That's okay. So are we. But we don't have to be scared of each other. Whatever happened before ... whatever cure or whatever happened ... you don't need to tell us until you're good and ready. That's fine. But her mother is back there with the others and she'll been crying herself to sleep at night with worry if she doesn't at least get to see her daughter. Why not at least let her say goodbye?"

"No," said the woman.

"Look, I'll call out and get one of the women down there to go and get her," said Rick. "We'll stay here, nice and still, and then she can talk to her mother through the window. How's that sound?"

"No," she repeated.

"You're not gonna let her see her own mother?" demanded Daryl, pointing at her as he stepped forward. He couldn't believe it. However much she didn't trust them, there was a line she was crossing. "She's not your damn daughter."

"No, humans killed mine but that's okay now because at least one little girl's safe," she said, with a little twitch of the head which suggested that it wasn't okay.

Daryl didn't know much of what to say about that but decided not to press about the whole 'humans' comment.

"So you know how it feels to lose someone you love," said Rick. "To lose a daughter. If you don't at least let her talk to her moth-"

"Last time I did that the mother killed her own child because she didn't like the look of him," said Katie. "All she said was 'He's dead' and she shot him because she'd seen him as a walker beforehand and couldn't tell the difference between a little boy running and crying out for mommy and a little boy staggering forward and moaning. Or maybe she didn't care."

"What?" Daryl looked at her like she was crazy. "Some bitch did that to her own kid?" He shook his head to shake away the idea. Some people didn't know what family was worth. Some people were idiots.

"That's pretty terrible," said Rick. "But her mother's not like that. I mean, if we were like that, would we have come all this way to look for her? Wouldn't we just walk away? I can see her and she looks pretty alive to me and maybe her eyes look a little different but people get scars after chicken pox. I'm not worried."

"You're not worried she's a plague bearer?" asked Katie. "That she'd infect your son? You'd let her go up and hug him? Would Lori?"

Rick straightened and looked down at Sophia.

"That's what I thought," said Katie.

"You really have been eavesdroppin' on us," said Daryl, to break her attention from that line of thought. "Knowin' all of our names. Why'nt you think to say 'hi, that girl you found is still alive'."

Katie snorted. "Didn't wanna get shot in a barn."

"Look, I'll admit I'm nervous," said Rick, still with that oh so reasonable tone.

Katie's eyes widened and she cocked her head to one side, as though listening.

"But we'll figure it out," Rick continued. "And we'll get through it but none of us is going to shoot Sophia. Or you."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," muttered Katie, lowering the gun and wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. Daryl and Rick stayed very still. She was obviously deciding something and now wouldn't be the time to press it. "Shit." She shook her head as if denying something to herself, went to raise the gun again, then lowered it. "Get your people in here. Now!"

"What? Why?" asked Daryl.

Sophia stared up at them, wide-eyed and pale. "There's cars," she whispered, as though that meant something.

Daryl paused though he couldn't hear anything.

"Cars are coming and there's only one group they could be," said Katie, sheathing her knife in one of her belt sheaths and holstering her handgun. "You gonna have to hole up in here unless you wanna go back with them in chains. So get your people moving. Now!"


	5. Chapter 5

Daryl watched as Andrea, Rick, and Maggie sprinted across the dirt track, gesturing wildly for the others to come to them. They'd been told not to shout out in case any of the approaching cars heard them, though Daryl couldn't hear them. Maybe walkers might notice, though. There was still the matter of the horde. Daryl had stayed behind in case it was a ruse. He leaned up against the wall and peered down at the others, then looked over at Sophia who was eyeing him nervously and twisting the edge of a 'Hello Kitty' T-shirt.

"Katie, huh?" he asked the woman.

She nodded. "Caitlin, actually. I let Sophia call me Katie."

"Right." He looked her up and down. At least she was pretty enough, in a lean and tough kind of way, if you ignored her eyes. All whip-cord muscle and sharp features, except for the curve of her hips and a bosom that was at least bigger than Lori's. Of course, that weren't hard. She'd make for some good enough eye candy, not that he needed the distraction. "So there actually cars coming?"

"Yup," she said, walking past him to gather up the rope ladder and throwing it over the edge. It tumbled down the tiles and the wall to the ground below.

"Clever," he said.

"This house would withstand half a horde, if they even thought anyone was in here worth pushing for," she said.

"What'll stop that other group from coming through?"

"Most people just see the white paint and keep going," she said. "They don't notice the rest of it. So long as your people move fast enough and don't show them the truth."

Daryl peered out the window. The others were starting up the dirt road, re-grouping with the trio, and starting for the house. Well, there wasn't much he could do for them up here. "What made you change your mind about us?"

"I didn't," said Caitlin. "I still have my humanity."

He raised his eyebrows at that. "Really? You seem to consider yourself different from the rest of us." He could vaguely make out the engine sounds.

"Only on my bitter days."

That made him chuckle. "Have many of them?"

"Yeah."

There's a gunshot, somewhere in the distance.

"Well, at least they've gotten distracted," said Caitlin. "Might be they don't come this way."

Daryl walked over to Sophia and crouched down to look her in the eye. "We looked for you for days. Just wanted you to know that."

"Thank you," said Sophia.

"Can't believe you're still alive," said Daryl. "Or back alive. You feelin' okay now?"

She nodded. "Mm hmm."

Daryl could feel Caitlin's stare in the back of his head. Watching him for any sudden moves, no doubt. What'd she think he was going to do? Snap the kid's neck? She really took them for some kind of monster, didn't she? Well, he guessed he could understand. Sounded like she'd been through a lot so it made sense to be suspicious. But still... "Why'nt you let us know she was still alive?"

"I did, there was the radio message," said Caitlin. "And even that was too much. You tracked us down therefore so can Woodbury. Look, if you people knew there was a cure, where would you go? What would you do to get your hands on it?"

"You got a cure, shouldn't you share it?" demanded Daryl.

"Not that easy," said Caitlin.

"Nothin's ever easy but it obviously works," said Daryl. "Worked for her and it worked for you."

There were footsteps on the verandah roof and Rick appeared in the window. "Hey, Daryl, can you help me with the others?"

Daryl glared at Caitlin one last time, irritated by the self-righteous look on her face, then he hurried out the window, but the others were coming up just fine and didn't need any help. Carl came up first, followed by Lori.

"Heard you talking before and I tell you, you need to ease up on her, all right?" Rick murmured to Daryl. "I know you're not happy. I'm not happy either but we're not exactly models for trusting people."

"Sure it's safe?" asked Lori, pausing at the threshold with her hands on Carl's shoulders.

"It's all we got," said Rick.

"Sophia!" gasped Carl, clambering over the window sill and rushing over to her.

"No!" said Lori, starting after him. The look on her face showed she hadn't quite accepted that being in that building with ex-walkers was safe.

It was funny. Daryl hadn't even considered that, really. It wasn't like they were going to bite. They woulda done that already if that was the plan. Sophia really was cured. That thought made him feel kind of warm and nice. Like everything was going to be okay. He pushed the hope back in the box. Now wasn't the time.

"Sophia?" Carol was up next and he helped her over the eaves. She nearly slid over in her eagerness to get to the window sill, and damn well threw herself over it. "Sophia!"

"Mom?" came Sophia's little voice, and she hurried over and grabbed her mother by the shoulders.

Carol hugged her, crying, and there were tears in Sophia's voice as well as she said, "Come inside, mom. Quickly."

Carol near slid inside, so desperate to keep the hug going as she got in. It was a touching moment. A bit sappy, in truth, but touching. Daryl looked over at Caitlin to see how she was taking it but the woman was just leaning against the corner of the room, glaring at the two like she was having something stolen away from her. Perhaps she was. Served her right.

Beth, then Maggie, then Hershel came up but they weren't looking so happy. No big surprise there considering their family had been walkers and had been shot for being dead. Daryl was surprised Hershel hadn't pulled a gun on them yet. Probably hadn't truly sunk in just yet, though the anger in their eyes suggested it wasn't a long way off.

"Your family were too far gone," said Caitlin, bringing it all into the light.

"How can you know?" asked Beth, sounding wounded.

"I've had enough experience to know," she said, though her voice had softened. "There's criteria. You gotta have died by the bite, not from your injuries, and you gotta turn real quick after you die. The disease, whatever it is, preserves your brain once it takes hold. That's why they don't die from their brain turning to mush after a few weeks. Even with all that, after a few days, maybe a week if you're lucky, it's still too late and there's nothing to bring back."

Andrea, T-Dog, and Glenn had gone inside while she spoke, and Rick looked to Daryl, and Daryl went in before him. Always the leader. Always the last one safe. Daryl didn't envy him. Rick pulled up the rope ladder and closed the shutters behind him.

"So there really was no hope?" asked Hershel.

Caitlin shook her head. "Not for them. Not by the time I got there. I kept going back to that barn hoping you'd pick up someone saveable. Little Sophia here was so small I didn't even know she was in the barn but the others ... I saw them all shambling on their way out and they didn't ping right. They couldn't have been saved."

"You base your knowledge on intuition?" asked Maggie.

"It's more complex than that," said Caitlin, opening the door to the landing and picking up the sniper rifle. "Now it's a bit crowded in here so if you'll all go downstairs I'll guard the approach. Rick, wanna cover that window? Any two others who're keen can peer out the cross-holes west and east. We all stay quiet and they should pass and then we can figure ourselves out." She took a deep breath like she wasn't all that keen on the idea.

"I'll take west," said Daryl, moving over to where a crate was position.

"I'll take east," said Andrea.

"Everyone else, make yourself at home," said Caitlin with forced cheer.


	6. Chapter 6

Sophia couldn't stop grinning up at her mommy as she grabbed her hand and led her from room to room using her flashlight to keep things lit up. Her heart was beating even faster than normal. Boom, boom. Boom, boom. Really quick. She could hear her own blood pounding in her ears, but she was getting used to permanent adrenaline high. It made her quick and sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, but she got bored easily now and Katie had warned her to be careful because when people were on adrenaline they pushed past their limits. The limits were there to keep people from hurting themselves.

That was okay. She'd be careful. Sorta.

"This is our corridor," said Sophia, running ahead and dragging Carol behind her to a room filled with sleeping bags and pillows. The couches and wing chairs had been pulled up together with the table and those chairs, all of which was covered with sheets to make a fort. There were colouring in books and pencils and chalk – she'd drawn on the walls. Sophia'd been bored and Katie never stopped her from doing things if there was no harm in them. "And this is the living room. We took up all the sleeping bags from a camping shop a few days back. Oh, and that exercise bike's connected to the lights and if you ride it then the lights come on."

"Wow," said Carl, his eyes lighting up at the sight of the place.

"Looks like you had a lot of fun," said Glenn, crouching down in front of her.

Sophia grinned at him. She'd always liked him.

"That's one word for it," said Lori, looking around at the mess.

Sophia frowned. Of course Lori wouldn't like it. She liked things to be nice and clean. "But Lori, there's nothing else to do around here!" she said, putting in a bit of a nasal twang into her pleas so that Lori would know how desperate she was for Lori to understand. "I have so much energy now!"

Lori smiled and Sophia felt better. "The forts I understand but you really shouldn't leave your pencils all over the place or they'll break."

Sophia nodded. "All right. I'll clean 'em up. Promise. But first I gotta show you the kitchen and the pantry. We got running water still. There's a windmill makes the radio machine stuff work too and maybe that keeps pumping the water."

"That's somethin', at least," said T-Dogg, nodding approvingly.

"Only cold water, but." Sophia led them into the tiny kitchen with the wooden and gas stove. "We're outta gas so we use a camping stove upstairs. The wood stove would make too much smoke with the bad people would see it. We've stockpiled a lot of food but most of it's in the cellar in case we get swamped." She gazed up at her mother, pointing the flashlight at her chest so she could see her momma's face without blinding her. "That's just part of the house. What do you think?"

"I think you did very well," said Carol. She had tears running down her face and that made Sophia feel bad.

"I wanted to tell you..." said Sophia. "I begged and I begged and she let me make the radio message. She said people wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't we understand, honey?" asked Lori.

Sophia bit her lip. "We're not deaders. We're alive."

Lori smiled. "We can see that."

"Well, she didn't think you'd see that," said Sophia. "First stagers try to kill folk like us. That's what she said. She said even if you all didn't, someone else would make a mistake and shoot us."

"Well, we won't let anyone shoot you," said Lori.

Sophia nodded. "I know that, and soon Katie'll know it too."

"Sweetie, you need to tell us about the cure. Do you remember it?" asked Lori.

Sophia looked down at her feet. "No."

"You know something, though, don't you?" asked Glenn from the hallway.

She shook her head. "No," she said again in a small voice.

"Look, if there's a cure than we should know about it," said T-Dogg. "I mean, what if one of us get bit?"

"I don't remember being a walker," said Sophia. "I know she's got cures but I don't know where she keeps them." It wasn't a total lie. Besides, Katie had told her people sometimes got desperate and might get themselves bit if they thought they had a cure on them or might try the cure early and since it didn't always work they'd die. They'd die for sure if they weren't a walker when they took it.

"Well, if you remember anything then you'll be sure to tell us," said Lori.

Sophia nodded and gave her a big grin to show that she understood, but then she noticed how tightly Lori was holding Carl and that she was holding him a bit behind her. Sophia's smile slipped. Her eyes adjusted to the dark quicker than most, or so Katie said. Took 'em longer to adjust to the light, but they could get used to the dark pretty good. She could probably see Lori better than Lori could see her and she could certainly see Carl's confused look and how he wanted to go to her.

Why would Lori hold him back if she didn't trust Sophia?

Sophia bit back tears she knew couldn't come, but trying to cry hurt, so she wouldn't. She loved Lori and Carl was her friend but they thought she was infectious or maybe they thought she'd become a walker again. Even Glenn wasn't coming all that close to her and T-Dogg was hanging back in the doorway. She looked up at Carol but she didn't seem scared of her, or maybe she didn't care.

She looked up at her mommy and said, "They don't want me to be here, do they?"

Carol just gave her that helpless little look she'd always gotten when things were bad and she didn't want to say anything, just like before dad hit her, or afterward sometimes when she'd probably get hurt again.

Sophia pulled her hand free and ducked around Lori as the woman recoiled, dragging her son out of the way with her. She slipped between T-Dogg and some older man, dropping her flashlight because she didn't need it anyway, and ran down the corridor to the heavy door at the end and slammed it shut behind her, throwing down the iron bar to lock it in position, then twisting three of the keys, and backing up against the radio console. She was small enough that the microphone hung over her head rather than banging into her.

Fine then, if they didn't want her then she didn't want them neither. She didn't ask them to come here.

It was dark in her, pitch dark, and she couldn't see anything but she could hear someone banging on the door and muffled voices. She dropped to all fours and crawled around, feeling along the wall until she found the flashlight, heartbeat echoing in her ears, her body a'flurry of fear-tingles, and she switched on the light with a click and went to the trapdoor, pulled it open and climbed down into the cellar.

All of her dreams were wrong. She'd thought that Rick would hug her and maybe scold her for not following his instructions and that Lori would smile and tell her about all that had happened and Carl would go and play with her but that wasn't going to happen. Katie was right. They did hate her. They hated hated hated her. Well, she could hate them right back.

"It's not fair!" she screamed into the silence of the cellar, slamming the trapdoor shut overhead. Her voice echoed back at her, followed by her dry-eyed sobs.

* * *

Yes, this doesn't like the same old Sophia we've come to know and love because the cure brings with it a few hormonal changes, as have been mentioned in the story. You'll learn more in the next instalment when they have to try and get her out.


	7. Chapter 7

Darryl settled into the routine of peering out across the fields with ease. This cottage had pretty good sightlines and anyone coming for them had to come up the hill, which would slow down anyone. The covered trenches could be a problem, except they were cut in such a way that they had a steeper bit at the front facing down and a sloping bit at the back, which meant that even if someone hid under the canvas sections it wouldn't be too hard to see them bulge up underneath it to shoot them.

There were a few lightly covered pits here and there that were sloppily done but he figured they were more for walkers anyway. The original owners had probably made them, or whoever had bricked up the place, as this much digging would've taken either months, an earth mover, or a lot more people than a single woman and a little girl.

Of course, they didn't know if Katie here had friends yet.

He glanced away from the field and over at the others. The quiet was nice. Neither Andrea nor Katie seemed to be the kinda women who'd have to fill the silence with talk. Not that there were many women like that left here. Carol liked to butt her head in but she was pretty quiet. Lori and Maggie were talkers, especially Maggie, and Beth probably would start once she'd gotten past the little lost grieving girl stage.

The door opened and Lori came into the attic, dragging Carl along with her. Carol floated behind her like a ghost.

Not seeming to notice or care about the importance of ensuring rapists and killers don't come sneaking up on them, Lori started to talk. "What have you done with Sophia? She just locked herself in the metal door room and isn't coming out."

"She's acting really different," added Carl.

"She was dead a week and that surprises you?" asked Caitlin, peering through her sniper rifle's scope.

Darryl had to smirk at that. It was a good point.

"How do we get into that room?" asked Lori.

"Through the door once she gets bored and opens it," said Caitlin.

Darryl heard movement coming from Lori and imagined her putting her hands on her hips. "You're suggesting we just leave her there?"

"Well, I ain't planning on going anywhere," said Caitlin.

"Rick," said Lori. "Are you listening to this?"

"Yes, I am, but she has a point," said Rick. "The only alternative is to lock pick the door..."

"Not going to happen with those locks," said Caitlin. "Plus there's a big metal bar she'll have plunked down. Don't worry. She'll be out soon. It's against the rules to block off the bunker."

Now Darryl really did look over. "There's an actual bunker down there?"

"Nah, but I call it that because it's the most secure room in the house," said Caitlin. "The radio shack. Plus it has a ladder up to a hatch, secured from the inside with a bolt, that can get you out on the shack roof. Makes for a nice little bolt hole."

"All right, we'll wait, but that still doesn't answer why she's acting completely different," said Lori. "She's not herself. She used to keep such a polite tone and now..."

"She's just like a teenager?" asked Caitlin. "Yeah, I know puberty's a few years off but she's gone through some changes. One of those is adrenaline. You know what that is?"

Darryl didn't know much about adrenaline other than it was some kinda drug made by the body that makes you fight or flee. Folk threw around the word a lot but he didn't know much else.

"Yes, I know what adrenaline is," said Lori tightly.

"Her adrenal glands are in over-time and that makes her jumpy and emotional because, well, there isn't a threat to run from or fight usually, but she'll have a generally high level of it," said Caitlin. "And her brain is more sensitive to it now as well."

"The poor girl," said Andrea. "And that's happening all the time?"

"The exact strength of it varies, but essentially, yes," said Caitlin. "It has an upswing."

"You're faster and stronger," said Rick.

"That has its own downswing, actually. We're not faster and stronger, really. Our muscle fibres are the same number and whatever threads the first infection installs into the musculature to enable some body movement despite low level decay are, as you've found, incomparable to actual muscle so they're not much help."

"Wait, first infection?" asked Rick.

"Yeah, everyone's infected at first," said Caitlin a little too quickly. "They just ain't turned yet."

Darryl frowned, sensing a lie. Ah well, Rick would've noted it too. He was a smart guy. If he didn't jump on it, then there was no sense for Darryl to get involved.

"Look, the way adrenaline works is it overrides a lot of the brain's natural caution and that makes us less cautious with how we use our bodies," said Caitlin. "Think of it this way, our bones are three times as tough as concrete but we treat ourselves like we're made of porcelain. It's a good idea if you don't want to break something but sometimes things are dangerous enough that a broken bone is the least of your worries. Same with sprained tendons or twisted ligaments. So when you're surging with adrenaline, coupled with the pain killing hormone endorphins, you take yourself to the edge of your limits."

"Like a mother pushing a car off her son," said Rick.

"My poor baby," said Carol. "She could hurt herself."

"I've explained to her how it works," said Caitlin. "She can't rely on pain as a warning due to endorphins and some minor tactile and pain-based nerve damage caused by her week as a walker."

"So she's going to be aggressive and anxious," said Lori.

"You and her both," added Daryl, looking over at Caitlin, then out over the field again.

"Yeah, me and her both," said Caitlin quietly.

"Is there anything we can do to help her?" asked Carol, and Darryl flinched at the desperate need in her voice. That was the mother he'd wanted her to be when she'd given up beforehand in the barn. The mother that believed there had to be something left to do.

"Adrenaline isn't just fear and anger, it's the basis of excitement," said Caitlin. "If you keep calm and keep things fun, the surge is lower and she's just excitable, but you can't expect her to be little Miss Quiet in ordinary circumstances. Just think of her as a thrill seeking teenager with a need for speed, and you'd do pretty well. The adrenaline levels aren't constant, they're just generally higher, and spike for longer. She's probably just scared you'll hate her and try to kill her so she'll cry herself to sleep and wake up bored and ready to come out."

Carol's little gasp was audible in the sudden silence.

"Maybe she wouldn't feel like we were going to kill her if you hadn't told her we would," said Lori.

"There's no point arguing about that now," said Rick. "Let's just focus on the issue at hand."

"Odds are any cars that were going to come this way would have by now," said Lori.

"She's right," said Andrea.

"True enough, I sure can't hear anything," said Caitlin. "Wait, is anyone hungry? I could totally go a can of spaghetti right about now." With that she settled her sniper rifle better against her stand and headed for the door.

Darryl pulled away from his window as well and turned to look over the others. Lori had her fists on those narrow hips in her dominance stance. Rick just looked weary from killing Shane though there was a determined set to his face. Maybe he wasn't weighing in because he knew he didn't have it in him to be diplomatic right now. Well, diplomacy sure weren't Darryl's job. Then there was Andrea with that pained smile she so often wore that might her eyes glitter a little like she was already too far gone.

"We haven't finished talking about you putting those thoughts into Sophia's head," said Lori.

"Thoughts, facts, fine line," said Caitlin, pointedly stepping closer to Lori and driving her a few quick steps back.

Lori even pulled Carl a little behind her as if to prove the point, then she looked over at Rick.

"Thought so," Caitlin turned toward the door but Carol was standing there and when Caitlin took a menacing step forward, she didn't move.

"Thank you for saving my daughter," said Carol in a bare whisper.

Now Caitlin recoiled, her eyes a little wide and shocked. "Err, that's fine."

She reached out and gripped Caitlin's hand. "Thank you." She looked so damned vulnerable as she did that. Hell, both of them did.

Caitlin swallowed, then pulled away, waving her hand as though trying to get the sensation out of it. Damn, that was probably what Darryl would've done in her place. "Don't mention it. Let's just go get some soup."

* * *

How're you going with it? Desiring some action and violence yet or are you cool with the drama and the slow reveal?


	8. Chapter 8

Darryl had planned on being the last one out of the room but Rick lingered behind, waiting by the landing door, before shutting quietly behind the others. Rick'd probably get told off about it later from Lori, so Darryl imagined it'd have to be important. He sighed, settling his crossbow over one shoulder, and went over to him. "You want somethin'?"

"This place is more secure than anywhere else we've got and we need fuel, food, and a destination if we're going to survive," said Rick.

Darryl waited, not bothering to interject anything into the silence as Rick worked out his next series of words.

"This Caitlin isn't going to want us around and it's going to be tense enough to pack so many people into a cramped cottage," said Rick. "But she's also got a cure and understands more about what's happened to Sophia than we know about."

"Notice her fangs?" asked Darryl.

Rick gave him that sidelong look people gave him when they thought he was being stupid. "You don't think she's a vampire."

"Didn't think the dead could walk, neither, but they have done."

"We saw her sprinting across the fields with Sophia at noon, in full sunlight," said Rick. "And she's about to eat some soup. Not a whole lot that's vampiric about that. Probably some kind of weird dental surgery."

Darryl shrugged. So maybe she wasn't a vampire. That didn't mean she was normal. "Looks like snake fangs to me."

Rick frowned. "Think they might be venomous?" He shook his head. "No..." Then he pinched the bridge of his nose. "The disease could've mutated but why ... how...?"

Darryl just waited.

"Okay, maybe, something has to be going on here," said Rick. "The dead aren't just animated, some of them are coming back to life. You can't cure death only they seem alive. They're breathing. Did she feel warm to you?"

Darryl thought back to the grapple, holding her so close to him in a life and death struggle. He nodded, thinking that it's been way too damn long since he last got laid. Longer than his brother knew, that was for damn sure. By bull shit count, it'd only been a few weeks since before the apocalypse, but it'd been a lot longer than that.

"So they come back all adrenaline-charged," said Rick.

"Maybe growing fangs," added Darryl.

"Sophia doesn't have fangs."

"Yet."

"Okay, maybe that's a part of it. Maybe not. The important thing is, what is the cure and where is it? She obviously had some of it for Sophia. There may still be more." Rick looked Darryl up and down. "Truth is, I think she likes you."

Darryl smirked at that. "I'm not surprised." He was, but damn him if he'd show it.

"Maybe you can get her to talk about the cure."

"I'm not worth much as a spy," said Darryl. "I ain't the talking and making nice type."

"Well, maybe you can just hang around her," said Rick. "One thing I've learned from criminals is that people tend to indicate what they have on their mind. If she goes near her stash of the cure, she might stand in front of it or check on it or something."

"This cure don't even work unless you're lucky," said Darryl.

"If we're clever, right now, we're most likely to survive with just a bite and have to be put down by one of our friends," said Rick. "With a cure, we could take that bite, wait it out chained up somewhere, and have someone else inject us with it shortly after we turn. The only risk is it might take awhile to turn but, y'know what, it's still a chance. It's a damned sight better a chance than what we've got right now."

Darryl sighed. He could sure use another option than a bullet if he were bit. "I ain't saying I'll do it because it ain't something I could do but it's a good idea. You should get someone else to do it. Maybe Glenn can batt those eyelashes at her and get her to open up to him."

"I need you to do this for me," said Rick, clamping a hand down on Darryl's shoulder.

Darryl shrugged him off. "I'll take a look around when she's distracted. My brother taught me a thing or two about hiding drugs but I'm not going to cozy up to her. Not something I'm doing." Or could do, but he didn't mention that. Talking to people and making friends had never been his strong point but he wouldn't explain a weakness like that, not to Rick of all people.

"Okay, fine, I'll go talk to Glenn and Maggie. You're right that they've probably got a chance of getting her to trust them. Hell, Hershel's family were real believers in that cure. If anyone's not going to be antsy around her, it'd be his family." Rick paused. "Don't think we've heard the last about that barn incident. Whatever Caitlin says, Hershel blames us, always has, and this piece of extinguished hope is just going to be make that worse."

"I can keep an eye on Hershel," said Darryl. That was something he could do. "All right, well let's go grab some grub before she figures out we're conspiring against her." Darryl gave Rick a meaningful look as he opened up the door and headed out onto the landing.

In truth, trying to steal the cure off her was a terrible idea. She was combat-trained and hyped up on adrenaline. Darryl couldn't imagine what an ordinary person would do to protect the cure, let alone someone who spend awhile as a walker and came back to her senses.

Still there was no convincing Rick of anything he didn't want to hear, especially after his little speech of my way or the highway. Darryl hadn't stood up then and he wasn't going to cast off now either. He'd come along this far.

He just hoped Rick's ambitions wouldn't get anyone killed.


	9. Chapter 9

Sophia rubbed her eyes which were itchy again and started up the ladder into the radio shack itself and then made her way over to the door. She felt a bit ashamed. She'd been so desperate to see them again and now they were here she'd yelled at them and ran away and one of the rules were to never lock anyone out of the safe room. She removed the heavy bar, grunting under the weight, unlocked the door and pulled it open to find the lights flickering, yet on, and Carol sitting on a chair by the door eating soup.

The smell of that soup drew her attention almost as much as her mother's presence made her feel relieved. She'd worried it might've just been a dream. "I'm sorry, mommy."

Carol looked at and, tears already sliding down her face, she put the bowl down and fell to her knees in front of her, sweeping her up into a big hug. "Oh, my girl, it's okay," she whispered into Sophia's ear. "It's fine. So long as you're alive it's all okay."

So her mommy really had missed her. That made her feel glad and guilty. Glad that she hadn't been forgotten but guilty that she hadn't made Katie take her to her mommy and show her that they were fine.

"I'm sorry I got angry," whispered Sophia. She paused for a moment, wondering if she should say it, then continued, "I don't like the way they look at me."

"I don't like it either," said Carol, pulling back a little and gazing down at Sophia with love and devotion in her eyes. "But if they ... if they don't want you around then I'll stay with you and maybe Darryl will stay with us as well. He never stopped looking. He never gave up hope. I'm sorry but I ... I did." Carol's gazed dropped to the floor and Sophia's heart nearly broke with how humble Carol looked.

"It's okay," said Sophia, hugging her mommy again. "I should've been more careful."

"Hey kid, I've cooked up your favourite," came Katie's voice from further down the corridor as she walked toward them. That woman was never much for giving privacy. "Dinosaur shaped spaghetti. Here you go."

Sophia wanted to be mad at her for interrupting but she did love dinosaur spaghetti a lot and Carol didn't seem annoyed at Katie for coming over. That was good. She didn't want them fighting. At least this way, worse came to worse, the three of them could be together, and maybe Darryl, though Darryl did seem a bit scary at times. He was so gruff and tough. She found it hard to imagine him searching for her. She hadn't thought he cared.

She took the spaghetti in one hand, holding her mother's hand in the other, and nodded toward one of the doors. "That's my bedroom but you can share it. There's bunk beds." She pointed her chin at another one. "And that's Katie's bedroom."

"You can share that one if you want," said Katie, her voice having a bit of a taunt to it.

Sophia looked over to see who she was talking to and saw Katie looking straight at Darryl who was leaned side on against the wall at the end of the corridor, where it opened up into the living room. His arms were crossed over his chest, the crossbow slung over one shoulder, and his face had that tough look on it that it always did. His only response was to look at Katie.

"No?" asked Katie, smiling cruelly. "Afraid I might bite?"

Sophia suppressed the urge to kick Katie in the ankle. It never worked out well and would normally start a scuffle that would end with Katie sitting on her back until she gave in and since Sophia had woken up from being a walker, she hated giving in. Still, times like these were times that Katie would deserve a kick.

"Be nice," said Sophia. "Darryl's my friend."

Katie's smile turned friendly as she looked over at Sophia. "Okay, kiddo, but if you keep telling me to make exceptions for people, I won't have anyone left to bully and then what'll I have left as a hobby?"

Even Darryl smiled at Sophia's words. "You don't need to stand up for me. I can take care of myself."

"There's one other bedroom up for grabs," said Katie. "You and your friends can wrestle for it."

"No need," said the old man that Sophia didn't know. "I think that should go to Lori and her family seeing as she's pregnant and all."

"She's pregnant?" asked Sophia, her eyes lighting up. "That's great. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"We don't know that yet and we won't until she has it," said the man. "My name is Hershel, by the way, and the two blondes that you don't know are Maggie and Beth. My daughters. Beth's the youngest one."

"Pleased to meet you, Hershel," said Sophia.

"We're the ones who captured you as a walker and put you in that barn for safekeeping," said Hershel, with a pointed look at Darryl. "We didn't believe in shooting them."

"Well, thank you for that," said Sophia. "But Katie says I'm an exceptional. Most can't be helped."

"I know, but maybe we can." Hershel looked up at Katie. "Hopefully if one of us gets bit and meets the criteria you might see yourself passing out that cure."

"Can I trust you?" asked Katie.

"Of course, you can. I'm a man of my word."

"What about your friends? Can I trust each and every one of them?" Katie sighed. "I'm not stupid. One of the things that'll keep me alive is that I know the location of the cure and no one else does. I got to think to my future and if I let people know too much about it then I might not do too well."

"I can understand your hesitation," said Hershel. "I just hope that you can see to sharing a little of it when the time comes, as it doubtless one day will."

Sophia sat down and started eating the spaghetti, pausing only to suck off the sauce and take a look to see what dinosaur she was eating now. Ooh, a tyrannosaur. She showed her mother, who sat down next to her and started eating her own soup.

"I'm sure I can give you a vial before we part ways, presuming we part ways amicably," said Katie.

Darryl pushed himself off the wall. "You plannin' on leaving us?"

"Might be." Katie crossed her arms over the chest. "Don't know yet. Not planning on blowing the coop until I got a place to go, though."

"We don't have to go," said Sophia, looking up from her spaghetti. "Really, we don't. They'll get used to us. We can't make people walkers."

"That true?" asked Hershel, looking at Katie.

"I've bled on initial stagers' wounds before and it does nothing," said Katie. "We can't pass it on and we can't catch it again."

"In that case, I don't see any difference between you and us, except that you're immune," said Hershel. "Why that would cause problems between us, I do not know."

Katie cocked her head to one side. "Y'know what? I believe you. You do seem a reasonable man and I do believe that would settle it for you."

"Well, I'm glad you say so, though I have to admit that I'm feeling impatient to see if you have any more of this cure," said Hershel. "I have my daughters to think about."

"I risked a lot saving Sophia," said Katie. "Don't worry about me leaving others to a bad fate when I can help it."

Hershel nodded and looked over at Sophia. "What are you doing sitting on the floor? Come into the living room and take a seat at the table. I hope you don't mind but we've packed up your fort for now. There's not much room for all of us and your fortifications."

Sophia smiled shyly up at him. "Oh, that's okay." She got to her feet, slurping at the spaghetti on her spoon, then grinned. "Wait, where's Dale? I drew a picture of him and I think it's pretty good. I wanna show him."

Darryl frowned and walked quietly away, pausing a few feet behind Hershel with his back to them. Hershel's gaze dropped to the floor for a moment before lifting up to meet hers. Carol hung back in that soft little way she did whenever there was bad news coming.

"Is he a walker?" asked Sophia in a low voice. She didn't really want to hear it but now it was in front of her, she had to know.

Hershel shook his head. "No, dear. He was attacked and badly injured by one so we had to help him go easy."

"No." Sophia stepped towards her mommy, eyes smarting now as she wanted to cry but couldn't. She'd loved Dale. He'd always been so nice to her. "Wait, and Shane?"

"Shane went crazy," said Darryl over his shoulder. "Rick had to put him down."

Sophia could see the reaction in Glenn and the older blonde woman who were by the kitchen door. She saw how they stiffened up and looked over toward where the couch should be – she couldn't see that part of the living room – where Rick and Lori probably were.

"How do you mean crazy?" whispered Sophia.

"Let's just have something to eat," said Carol, smoothing things over with her words as she always did when things were terrible.

Sophia wanted to push her, to make her stand up and stop being so quiet and meek and gentle all the time. She'd always wanted her daddy to stop hurting her mommy but before all this she'd never known what they could do without them. They should've run or fought back or something. She knew that now. But now maybe her mommy's quiet meek way was right. Why rock the boat? They were dead and maybe it was no one's fault and there was nothing she could do about it but it made her angry but there was nothing left to do.

The bowl shook in her hand and she wanted to throw it but she loved dinosaur spaghetti so she drew a deep breath. "Okay." And she walked over to the table and she sat down. "Okay." And she ate her lunch without looking at anyone or even bothering to see what dinosaurs were beneath the sauce.


	10. Chapter 10

Sophia sat on the bicycle, pedalling furiously to maintain all of the electric lights on in the house. It was hooked up to the wiring and though she didn't know how it worked, it was enough to know that it did work. She was still upset about hearing what had happened to Shane and Dale but she didn't want to stop and think on it. So she cycled as fast as she could, which was pretty fast, since her legs didn't cramp anymore, and tried to think of nothing but the spot on the wall that she was pretty sure was an old bloodstain.

She groaned. She hadn't wanted to think about that.

"Hey Sophia," said Carl. He'd been leaning against the wall and looking at her for awhile with that kinda forehead lowered, gazing up kinda way that he probably thought made him look grown up. "Maybe I should have a go on that bike."

Sophia spared a glance at him then looked over to where Lori sat on the couch, deep in conversation with T-Dog and Andrea. She returned her attention back to the wall. "Thought you couldn't talk to me, huh?"

"What do ya mean?" asked Carl, sounding hurt. He stopped leaning up against the wall and came over to her.

Sophia felt a bit bad, but her guilt was nothing compared to her anger. He was meant to be her friend, him and Lori, but they'd both backed off from her like she had the plague. "You heard."

Carl grabbed her arm and whispered, "You weren't there. You don't know what it was like. Mom's just scared."

Sophia gave him a withering look, and felt smug when he backed up a little. "You weren't there," she echoed, and saw his face fall. "You don't know what it was like. Where were you?"

"We looked for you," he said in his lost little boy voice. She hated that voice. It made her feel guilty when she wanted to be angry. If she were angry, she wouldn't have to feel that tugging on her insides that made her feel like crying.

"Sure," she said, and slid off the bicycle. "There you go. Your turn."

The lights started flickering and everyone looked over at them. Sophia felt her cheeks flush. At least that might make them realise she wasn't a walker.

Carl hung his head and got up on the bike. "Sophia, I…."

Sophia couldn't stand everyone looking and the room was too small to say sorry or anything like that without everybody hearing, so she just headed into the kitchen to get a juice. The kitchen was already pretty full. Rick was leaning toward Katie, saying something in hushed tones, while Daryl looked on curiously and Carol stood back, wringing her hands. Sophia bit her lip to keep from scolding Carol for not saying whatever the hell it was she wanted to say. Her mom couldn't help being like that. It was what made her so sweet … and so frustrating.

"What're you all talking about?" asked Sophia innocently.

"The adults are talkin'," said Rick. He sounded irritated. Obviously the conversation hadn't been going well. "Why don't you go back to the living room?"

"Adults are done talkin'," said Katie, mimicking Rick's drawl for a minute and flashing him a humourless smile. She grabbed the juice out of the fridge and clutched three cups by the handles. "Carol, wanna have some girly time? About time we had a heart to heart about your daughter."

Rick stepped out in front of her. "If you've got anything to say about that, you can say it in front of me."

"You really want to know what Sophia's puberty is going to be like?" asked Katie, with that big grin on her face that she only got when she was real angry. "I dunno if a pre-teen's periods are something a man should be privy too."

Sophia gaped at her, amazed that she'd say such a thing, and to Rick of all people. Sophia liked Rick. She respected him. She didn't want to be some pawn in whatever kind of argument they were having. "I'm right here, guys."

Rick backed off a step. "Right. So that's what you'll be talking about?"

"You can always interrogate Carol later if you doubt me," said Katie. "She's fragile. I'm sure she'll capitulate."

Now Sophia really wanted to kick her, but she held back. Katie could be mean but she wasn't normally that mean. Something was wrong and that meant the conversation would be important.

Rick glanced at Carol and Sophia saw the look in his eyes. He was weighing up his chances and he obviously found them favourable, because he nodded. Sophia sighed inwardly. No one thought much of her mother, which wasn't fair. Carol was sweet and kind, but that didn't make her weak. If any of them knew how much her mother had been through….

"Come on Sophia, Carol," said Katie, swinging her hips in a cheerful stride as she walked past Daryl and Rick. At least Rick had the good graces to look away. Daryl just took the opportunity to perve.

Sophia made a point to catch Daryl's gaze and shook her head at him, silently letting him know her disapproval. He just met her gaze dead on, like he didn't know what he'd been caught doing, or at least didn't care. Sophia rolled her eyes and followed Katie, taking her mother's hand in her own. She felt much better now her mom was here. Stronger. More adult even. Someone had to take care of mom.

Katie waved them into her bedroom and shut the door.

"I don't like how you talked to Rick about my daughter," said Carol.

Sophia smiled, glad to hear her mom standing up to someone.

"Fine," said Katie. "But that can wait. I've got some important facts to give you about your daughter. I don't know you real well and I don't intend to, but I do think that you've accepted your daughter unconditionally and that's good enough for me to leave her in your care."

Sophia stared at her. "You're not leaving."

"I thought you'd head off," said Carol quietly.

"I can't believe this!" said Sophia. "You're always saying we need more people around. Isn't that why you keep looking for walkers?"

Katie shrugged and sat down on the edge of her bed, on top of the bundle of blankets she'd likely kicked down there at the end of the night. All her spare clothing was in a sprawl across the floor as well. Anything that couldn't fit in her travel cases, that is. Katie didn't like to tidy. "Look, these people know you and they'll make an exception for you but they're sniffing around like paranoid hounds as it is. Anyway, that's irrelevant. What matters is that she understands things a bit better."

Carol clasped her hands before her and pushed her shoulders back a little like she was expecting bad news. "What is it?"

"Don't worry," said Katie. "I've been like this since two weeks after the infection spread and I'm fine. She'll likely be as well … at least for several months. I don't know how we'll age – faster, slower, not at all. I don't know how long our organs will cope with all of this excess adrenaline. For now, I'm fine. My body repairs faster than normal. I only vaguely feel pain. I need to eat about thrice as much as a double first, but that's about it."

"What's a doubt first?" asked Carol.

"That's what I brought you in to tell you about." Katie leaned back on her bed and looked Carol up and down. "First stage of the first infection. You do know that everybody has the virus, or whatever it is, that has the dead walking?"

"Yes."

"The second stage of the first infection is when you die and get up again. Me and Sophia are First-Seconds. The first stage of the second infection. Far as I'm guessing, maybe some military or alien race or whatever created a two-stage mixture. The first sets up the framework in your mind and your musculature so that you can die and get up again – although hungrier. The second uses that framework and re-starts your body again so that you can live faster, stronger, and more resilient than before. Plus side is we already took the first infection's hit so we're not going to become walkers."

Carol squeezed Sophia's hand. "So what happens if you get bit?"

Sophia looked up at her mom, wondering how her mom would take this. "It's not what happens when we get bit. It's what happens if we get hungry."

Carol looked down at her.

"I'm not … I don't want to eat people. Any bit of people. I'm just…." She lowered her head, unable to meet her mom's eyes. "Our bodies need a lot of food and if we starve, well, the lizard brain takes over or something. I don't really remember all she said but it basically means that we kinda revert. But only kinda." She looked back up at her mom and saw anxiety tightening her mom's face. "It takes a week or two of no food before it gets that bad. It's not gonna happen overnight."

"It won't happen at all if you're clever," said Katie.

"So what happens if you revert?" asked Carol in a very small, very weak voice.

"We don't become walkers," said Sophia.

"No," said Katie. "We run. We run and we fight and we climb and we can take a bullet and keep on moving. Hell, if you don't get an instant kill on a shot through the brain than we might just get up again."

Carol gasped, raised a hand to cover her mouth and squeezed her daughter's hand extra tight with her other hand.

"But that doesn't have to happen," said Sophia. She hoped her mom would still love her after this.

"So you see now why I'm keeping this quiet," said Katie. "You see why I'm only telling you. If anyone out there were to find out about it then they would probably kill Sophia just to ensure that it doesn't happen because they don't want to have to deal with that."

"Rick might…." Carol paused. "Lori wouldn't take that risk. Rick wouldn't … I …. You're right, Katie. I mean, Caitlin. We should go. We should leave now. I don't want to stay here anymore. This group is broken and it's so scared right now that I believe they could do anything. I don't trust these people. The only person I trust here is Daryl…."

"Rick's lackey?" asked Katie. "You're kidding me."

"No, you don't know him. He's good and pure and he means well."

Katie shook her head. "Listen, lady, Sophia told me about her dad. You don't have the best taste in men."

"You don't understand," said Carol. "He looked for Sophia even when it hurt him. He had an arrow wound and he still kept looking. He cared more than anyone in that camp. He believed she was alive even when I'd … even when I'd given up hope." Carol's lower lip trembled and Sophia gave her hug to try to clear away some of that pain.

"Well, as far as understanding goes than we'll keep this simple," said Katie. "Your friends out there are probably not going to be all that keen on losing some of their membership out into the wilds with a stranger. They'll probably stop us from going. Hell, I doubt Rick would even let me leave."

"Maybe if you gave him some of the cure…."

"We can't do that, mom," said Sophia.

Carol looked down at her. "But why? Don't you have enough?"

"We just … we can't." Sophia hated withholding it from Carol but she doubted her mother would understand.

"If we gave him some, he'd want it all," said Katie. "At least one shot per member of his group, even though the odds aren't good that they'd all be receptive to it. Look, if you want to sneak out with us than fine but we do it my way. And please, no telling anyone on us. We'll give it four days. By then they should have started to relax and assumed I was staying. We'll have to abandon my motorcycle but I have a fuelled up 4 wheel drive not far from here and my perception is sharper than it used to be."

"I'm going to miss Carl," said Sophia.

"Yeah, I know, but its best if everyone stays alive," said Katie. "Sometimes the best thing you can do for people is to just stay away." She looked over at Carol. "So are we agreed?"

Carol sucked in her lower lip, and nodded. "All right. I agree."

"Good. Four nights time."


	11. Chapter 11

Daryl watched Glen taking inventory of the food in the cramped kitchen and the larger store room. There was a lot of non-perishable food – can food, sacks of beans, bags of dried fruit and bottles of water. Rick had lain out the dozen or so guns and boxes of ammunition that had been kept in the various wardrobes while T-Dog counted out how much ammo was left. Hershel was taking a look at the buckets – literal buckets – loaded up with medication and first aid kits looted from local bathroom cabinets.

Caitlin had invited them to do the full inventory. She'd spent the past few weeks scouring homes and stockpiling it all here for the winter and now she was inviting them to take a poke around. The group were obviously grateful but it got Daryl to thinking.

How the hell did she get all this?

And what exactly was she playing at?

Daryl figured it was either that she was planning on sending them out and was trying to make the guilt go away by loading them up with what they needed or maybe she was planning on leaving herself and just wanted to make them feel like they were all settled in together first. He couldn't for the life of him imagine leaving this kind of stash behind. It was enough food for a few months if they rationed it and while most of the meds were probably useless – mouth wash and cough syrup – some of it was even penicillin.

"We got enough?" asked Maggie, craning her neck to see past Daryl into the narrow kitchen. He didn't bother moving to make it easier for her.

"There's just so much here," said Glen, grinning at her with that funny lovey-dovey look in his eyes that nearly made Daryl sick. "From water purification tablets to cordial. There's enough here to keep us going for a couple months."

"More if we rationed it," said Maggie.

"Of course," said Glen. "This should be enough to get us through the winter."

That was something at least. One less thing to worry about.

"It's just a shame there's no fuel," said Hershel from the living / dining room. "I no longer believe it is wise to pen ourselves in to any sanctuary without a possibility of easy escape."

"What's easy about escape?" asked Caitlin from some spot on the other side of the kitchen wall where the dining table was set up in that section of the L-shaped living room.

"You're right," said Rick. "Presuming Caitlin's going to be nice enough to let us stay here for the winter then we should be fine but you're still right. We need fuel. We need an exit strategy."

"Those Woodbury boys would be after this place if they see a couple cars parked up front," said Caitlin. "You'll need to hide them around back below the dip. I can show you later once you've gotten some fuel."

"Woodbury?" asked Rick. "That's the second time you've mentioned that."

"That kid you almost strung up was from some advance party sent from Woodbury," said Caitlin. "They're violent, vicious and think themselves protected behind their walls. They won't be kind to you. Not after you shot a few of them. Of course, they'd be rough with you anyway. They don't much like outsiders."

Daryl came around the corner to see them all better, leaving Glen and Maggie to their cans. "You ever spoke to any of them?" he asked.

"Nope, I eavesdrop before I speak," she said. "Safer that way."

"You sure you didn't find most of this here equipment stowed away when you came here?" asked Hershel, lining up a seventh bottle of cough syrup.

Caitlin turned to him. "No. Why?"

"Seems like you raided a lot of houses on your lonesome." Hershel gazed up at her from his position on the overstuffed couch. "Seems like a dangerous enough prospect in a group. I was just wondering how you managed that feat."

Caitlin crossed her arms over her chest. "I had help." She looked over at where Sophia sat on the exercise bike. "I had her."

"So that vaccine of yours doesn't make them ignore you?" asked Hershel. "Disregard you as food?"

Rick raised his hands placatingly. "Now, come on. We agreed we'd leave talk about cures alone until she was good and ready."

Daryl smirked at that. Considering the group had been allowed to go through all the cupboards to do the inventory, it was smart to be patient. Caitlin obviously wasn't hiding the cure around the house.

"Nothing's ever so simple," said Caitlin. "I've been clever. I've been smart. More than any of that, I've been lucky. And its a cure. Not a vaccine. Vaccines are preventatives."

"Well maybe you can show us your tricks," said Glen, stepping out of the kitchen. "I know a few but I could always learn some more."

"That's a good idea," said Rick. "We could head out and get enough fuel for our cars then maybe find a place to hide them. Since you know your way around, would you be willing to show us through the woods?"

Caitlin looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. "Sure."

"I'm in," said Daryl. "Anything to get out of here." It was suffocating being stuck around all of these people and Caitlin wouldn't let anyone wander around just in case. Maybe after a good trip outside she might ease off a bit and let him roam. All her hesitation made him think she had the cure stashed somewhere in the yard.

"I'll come with you," said Glen before turning to Maggie. "Can you finish the inventory for me?" He grinned at her teasingly.

Maggie gave him a little push. "Can't. I'm relieving Andrea on watch."

"We go out there we have to make sure we don't bring any of them back with us," said Caitlin. "We take them out quiet as we can unless we can't. I've only got one silencer for a pistol and even a silencer is not truly silent. I've got a crossbow. The silenced sniper rifle is far too ungainly for any close quarters combat so we'll leave that."

Daryl smiled at that. Finally someone was thinking some sense. Guns were too goddamn loud for most instances. "I got my own crossbow."

"I'll take the silenced pistol, if you don't mind," said Rick.

"I'm not great with weapons so I should be fine without any," said Glen.

Caitlin picked up the crossbow –a pink leopard print one that really didn't look like it originally belonged to Caitlin – and passed it to Glen. "Here. You might as well use this. I have terrible aim anyway. Too damn twitchy."

"You looked okay when you were pointing that gun at me," said Daryl.

"Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment. You might want to teach your friend how to use that thing. I'll have a couple hatchets as back up-"

Daryl liked the colour of her crazy but still he scoffed. "Hatchets? You'll lose that embedded in their skulls."

"We run into more than two and you fail to take the rest down then we've got bigger problems," Caitlin said with a smile. "Better you all have ranged weapons. I can normally find my way around biters and fireworks can make a great distraction for even a small horde so long as they can't see the rest of you."

"You can do parkour or something like that?" asked Glen.

"Kinda, it's more that my adrenaline surges are better than yours," she said. "Let me get my stuff and I'll guide you three down to the range where Glen can learn how to use that crossbow." She headed off into her room.

Glen just stared at the pink-camo-covered crossbow, holding it out at arm's length.

"Suits you," Maggie said with a smile. "Maybe you should ask nice and she'll let you keep it."

Glen looked over at Caitlin. "Maybe you should-"

"Just paint the darn thing black," said Daryl. "Sure there's a magic marker or something." Though a weapon was better than none, he was glad he didn't have to carry it. Just looking at it made him think about the kind of things that Merle would've said about it. Damn, thinking about Merle hurt.

Caitlin emerged with her hair pulled back in a short ponytail, wearing webbing with a number of pockets and two hatchets strapped to her belt. Fit and lithe. The kind of body that could survive this kind of hell.

"You sure you don't want some kind of firearm?" asked Rick.

"I'm not drawing the attention of any more biters than I have to," said Caitlin. "If things go to hell, I'll get out and around them if I can and I'll draw them away."

"That's normally my job," said Glen.

Caitlin shrugged. "Looks like I might be doing you out of a job. Look, if we're in the forest and surrounded, it's already too late but we're more likely to encounter that sort of thing in the odd little town. We'll have to head away from Woodbury, though. They have scouts and it's not worth being spotted by them."

"You be safe, all right," said Maggie, giving Glen a peck on the check. "And you come back to me."

Rick looked over at Lori but Lori, having doubtless seen that, was now busy lining up the medications and going over the list of what they already had. She obviously still hadn't forgiven him for killing her lover boy when Shane had gone out to kill her husband. Daryl didn't understand that kind of person. Always so high and mighty that even when she accidentally sets something up she hates the people who paid the price for her. Rick just lowered his head, sighed, and turned to the rest of them. "Well, let's go then."

Daryl glanced around the room for Carol before remembering that she and Beth were napping after a late watch. Caitlin demanded everyone take turns on that and Rick hadn't minded it. He almost sighed at the thought of Carol but he held it in. He wasn't going to act like a damn fool over a woman, especially a damn fool of a woman, but seeing Maggie and Glen kind of made him wonder what it would be like if he had a woman like Carol looking after him.

He shrugged back those thoughts and headed out with the others.


End file.
